Bradley Manning To Find Out His Fate

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Mark Memmott / NPR

Photo by Saul Loeb

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning on Tuesday at Fort Meade, Md.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the former intelligence analyst responsible for the largest leak of classified information in U.S. history, is to learn Wednesday just how many decades he'll be sentenced to serve behind bars.

Manning faces a maximum sentence of 90 years in prison for the crimes he committed in 2010. Prosecutors, as The Associated Press reports, have asked that he be put away for at least 60 years. "The defense," adds the AP, "has suggested a prison term of no more than 25 years, so that Manning, 25, could rebuild his life. Defense attorney David Coombs asked for a sentence that 'doesn't rob him of his youth.' "

Earlier this week, Manning told the military judge at Fort Meade, Md., that "I'm sorry I hurt people. ... I'm sorry that I hurt the United States. I'm apologizing for the unexpected results of my actions. The last three years have been a learning experience for me."

The judge has said she plans to begin spelling out Manning's sentence at 10 a.m. ET. We'll watch for that news and update this post.

Manning was convicted in July of most of the charges he faced, including multiple counts of espionage. But he was acquitted of the most serious: aiding the enemy. As we've previously written, he admitted that in early 2010 he gave WikiLeaks "more than 700,000 documents, including battlefield reports and U.S. embassy cables."

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